In a recent post I mentioned I was working on a novel and a friend commented, ‘so, about this novel…’ Well, here’s the continuing story of the story.

Many years ago, I was privy to a remark that one sibling said to another. I wondered how someone could say such a hateful, hurtful thing to anyone, but especially to a person they loved. The other thing I wondered about was how does one come back from that depth of betrayal. Or can they? These questions have driven many novels. I’ve often heard there are no new stories, just different ways of telling them. Even though the seed of my story wasn’t original, I hoped my telling of it would be.

My initial answers to those musings produced a short story of about 4,000 words. I submitted it for a critique during a writers’ conference and the editor said it wasn’t a short story–it was part of a novel. She very strongly suggested I “…allow the other characters tell their part of the story.” Believe me, they did! Almost immediately. So, I wrote.

And I finished a crappy first draft. As I sat at the computer knowing that wasn’t the end, one of the characters finally ‘spoke up’ and said, ‘you know I have a tattoo, right?’ Um no, there hadn’t been even a hint nor hue of a tattoo anywhere. It turned out to be a significant image in a significant place. Working on the second draft included weaving this image through the now 24,000-word document. The ink brought color and depth to this character, and I absolutely fell in love with her part of the story.

Over the years I religiously took bits to my regular critique groups and they did their job of pointing out holes, asking good questions, and making my work better. I even had some initial nibbles from agents and my first rejections for this 72,000-word or so story.

Then I put the novel away to work on my book of poetry. The poems had started coming and it just felt as if that project was supposed to come first. As it turned out it was, and I don’t regret putting the novel aside. During that time, I also wrote several short stories that really were short stories, and some essays. They were productive years, just not for the novel. Or maybe they were …

Things must have been fermenting because when I returned to ‘the book’, as I’d started calling it, I did a major redo. It’s even called ‘redo’ in my files. I’d spent a week at Table Rock Writers Workshop again, but this time as an independent study instead of taking a class. I had the whole week to tinker with the manuscript without any distractions like phone calls, laundry, meal prep–in other words my real life. I remember coming home and spreading each chapter out on the floor and completely rearranging them, the chapters themselves as well as their placement in the book. I used sticky notes and different colors of ink to keep track of each character’s story arc, various timelines, and flagging places where I needed to go back and either rewrite or expand. I went back to the computer and the manuscript is now around 100,000 words … give or take.

Then I put the novel aside to work on the book for my parish centennial. This was a 4-year labor of love that consumed my time and creative energy. As I neared the end of that project, I sent my manuscript to an editor for a professional edit. Her comments and suggestions could not have been more encouraging and helpful.

A little over a year ago I submitted the manuscript to a university press, and it came thiiiiiiis close to being accepted. The publisher and I traded emails for several months before he finally said, “I’m really sorry but …” I’m still grateful for the personal rejection letter and his sincere support and encouragement. I sent it out again and the next editor had some insights and suggestions I needed to consider. Which I did, but then put the work away for the last year as life got busy. I’ve told friends I’ve been doing non-writing writerly things.

But now it’s time to get back at it. Today I’ll print off a clean copy of the 300 pages, grab my sticky notes and colored pens and get to work. And that’s the continuing story of the story! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Fall is in the air in the Carolinas and I for one am glad to feel it come. See you next week with another book review, and until then, I hope you have a great week!